News

Commanders of Georgian military forces have reported at the Brussels NATO Headquarters that they were against the military invasion into South Ossetia. They assert that should they have been given a chance, they would have persuaded President Mikhail Saakashvili not to invade.

In Kabardino-Balkaria, the case of beating Miloslav Bitokov, editor-in-chief of the "Paper of the South", has been delivered to the Russian Investigatory Committee for the city of Nalchik.

The Appeal Court of France has rejected the Georgia's petition to extradite former Defence Minister of the country Irakliy Okruashvili.

Alexander Bastrykin, Chairman of the Investigatory Committee under the Russian Prosecutor's Office, has ordered his subordinate Departments for the South Federal District (SFD) to make an objective inquiry into the death of journalist Magomed Evloev, owner of the oppositional website "Ingushetia.Ru".

The European Union believes that in spite of the statements of the head of Russian MFA Sergey Lavrov EU observers shall be deployed in the territories of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

For the third time already, residents of the Imereti Valley have stopped the builders of the "Second Cargo District of Sochi Port", or more precisely, the construction of the protective fence around this object. Same as before, the builders could not present any required permits.

Mikael Ezhiev, leader of the NGO named "Human Rights Centre of the Chechen Republic" has stated that residents of Chechnya Salavatov, Matsiev, Dzhantemirov and Khabibulaev, sentenced last week by the Supreme Court of Chechnya to long terms of imprisonment, gave their evidences of guilt under torture.

The son of the ex-president of Georgia Zviad Gamsakhurdia - Tsotne Gamsakhurdia, detained on September 3 in the Tbilisi Airport under accusations of a putsch attempt, has announced a hunger strike.

Sergey Lavrov, head of the Russian MFA, has stated today that the European Union has become the basic guarantor of force non-use by Georgia against South Ossetia and Abkhazia. A written notification on the fact was received by Presidents of Georgia and Russia Mikhail Saakashvili and Dmitri Medvedev.

David Gamkrelidze, leader of the oppositional Georgian Party named "New Right-Wingers", has stated that President of Georgia Mikhail Saakashvili should resign and appoint early presidential and parliamentary elections.

Levon Zurabyan, coordinator of the Armenian National Congress (ANC), told journalists that telephones of the members of Levon Ter-Petrosyan's team have been secretly tapped since last September till today.

Russia has officially established diplomatic relations with Abkhazia and South Ossetia. This fact was announced by Sergey Lavrov, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Russia, at today's press conference in Moscow.

Today, the Stavropol Territorial Court has sentenced residents of Ingushetia Ruslan Kostoev and Zurab Tsuroev, accused of blowing up the "Pyatigorsk-Stavropol" bus at the bus station in the city of Nevinnomyssk on December 9, 2007, to 24 and 23 years of deprivation of freedom.

President of Czechia Vaclav Klaus has made Georgia responsible for the military conflict in the Caucasus, having accused it of attacking South Ossetia.

The Supreme Court of Karelia, where the trial on criminal case on Kondopoga disorders continues, has announced the results of the handwriting examination, which have confirmed the fact of falsification of some procedural documents.

Guram Kekeliya, a resident of Kutol village, was killed today in the frontier Gali District of Abkhazia. Journalists were informed about it by Laurence Kogoniya, head of the Gali ROVD (District Interior Department). As he said, the incident took place at 1:45 p.m. Moscow time; near the centre of Dikhazurga village Kekeliya was shelled from an ambush by a Georgian raiding unit.

In a month, Russian troops will be completely withdrawn from the territory of Georgia, said President of France Nicolas Sarkozy after negotiations with President of Russia Dmitri Medvedev.

Russian human rights activist urge the European community to promptly restore the rights of those persons who suffered from military actions in Georgia and South Ossetia.

Belarus will recognize Abkhazia's and South Ossetia's independence in the near future, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has stated.

Shalva Natelashvili, leader of the oppositional Labour Party of Georgia, has accused President of Georgia Mikhail Saakashvili of provoking the war in South Ossetia and advised him to resign voluntarily. According to Mr Natelashvili, "this power should grow an idea in their heads that their resignation will save the country."